Testing, inspection, and certification firm, Bureau Veritas Kenya Limited, in partnership with horticultural value chain stakeholders, has rolled out the KS1758, a food quality standard for fresh produce in the domestic market in Kenya.
Participating organizations include the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC); Retail Trade Association of Kenya (RETRAK); Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK) and the Kenya Flower Council (KFC), which are putting in place programs through which producers, supermarkets, groceries, county markets, consolidators, packhouses, and exporters are supported in the implementation and certification of KS 1758 to enhance quality and safety of fresh produce. Bureau Veritas has so far certified nine individual producers and one group of farmers to the standard.
A world leader in the service, Bureau Veritas is accredited to the ISO 17065: 2012 which gives confidence that certification to the KS 1758 by the firm follows internationally accepted rules and codes for bodies engaging in product certification.
To support the KS 1758 certification, Bureau Veritas has a state-of-the-art laboratory based in Mombasa that is accredited to the ISO 17025: 2017 for testing and is registered by the National Environment Management Authority for water and effluent testing; air, noise, and emission monitoring.
The laboratory offers solutions in microbiological testing; elemental testing, physicochemical; soil analysis; plant analysis; organic substrate analysis, and irrigation water testing.
Bureau Veritas offers specific value-added services such as capacity building; agricultural project studies on pesticide residues; safety and traceability of fresh produce and research.
Bureau Veritas assists horticultural value chain players to establish, implement and maintain quality, to demonstrate the high value of products through product certification labels such as GlobalGap, GRASP, and Organic Certifications.
Bureau Veritas has developed innovative solutions for transparency throughout the horticultural value chain that ensure traceability from farm to fork with the adoption of blockchain technology such as SAFEOPs; and TRACE.
